


The Wolves Found Me (but I don't care)

by justcallmeizzo



Series: We of the Wolves [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 06:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/884010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justcallmeizzo/pseuds/justcallmeizzo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The pack is on high-alert when Jess tells Stiles to keep an eye out for his new classmates. And a simple lunch break goes awry when someone helps deliver Jess to Derek and Peter for a nice "talk", much to Stiles' dismay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wolves Found Me (but I don't care)

The days following the meeting were spent on high-alert. The entire pack was focusing on sniffing everything around them and all Stiles could think about was how Derek really needed to teach them how to smell the air without _looking_ like they were smelling the air. It was like the lacrosse practice when Scott found out about Isaac, and it was just on so many levels of sad.

Stiles forced himself to pay attention to his classes while the rest of the pack was sniffing the air and gossiping amongst themselves. They had this annoying habit of not telling him what they were talking about. Especially Scott and Isaac, which totally went against “Bro Code”, Stiles was sure of it.

Stiles finally got to history, the one class he didn’t have any pack members in, so he told the teacher he needed to go to the computer lab to do research for the first paper. He didn’t actually want to do research on that because he figured he could find much more interesting things to research than the Communist Bloc.

Like if werewolves can mark humans.

He had been trying to research it on his own but every time he started to look something up, a pack member ended up in his house and how was he supposed to explain that? _“That rogue wolf in the woods may or may not have marked me?”_ Yeah. He didn’t think that would go over too well, so he saved that research for little moments like this where he could escape all the supernatural eavesdroppers.

He logged in to one of the computers in the back so that no one would be able to just walk in and peer at his monitor and judge his google searches. He entered in Finstock’s log-in information which he had found on a post-it note one day during practice. The administrators didn’t have any site blocks and Stiles didn’t have time to individually hack each site to gain access right now.

Simple and efficient. It was one of his favored methods if he was going to be honest with himself.

He’d spent about thirty minutes looking through different sites, avoiding ones about people asking because they were writing novels. Stiles was pretty sure a completely accurate book of werewolves didn’t exist because he had spent hours on different websites and rented at least a hundred different books, and none were completely right.

Some had the basic ideas. Some had good descriptions of pack dynamics. Some even explained the importance of a mate, unfortunately that book didn’t know anything about marking a mate. _Oh God, what if I’m her mate now? Is that how it works? Oh God I need to find a decent article._

He was on a website entitled “How to get a werewolf to mark you”, when he felt a familiar smile breathe across his neck. “Well that’s an interesting topic Little Red. Now I know there are some nasty thoughts in that messed up little brain of yours.” She started to walk her fore and middle fingers up his neck before sitting in the seat next to him.

“It’s just research,” Stiles responded defensively.

“Okay,” she replied. Her eyebrows were raised in disbelief while a bemused smile played on her lips. “Whatever you say Little Red.”

Stiles groaned before throwing his hands up in frustration and turning towards her. “I wouldn’t even have to know this website existed if it wasn’t for you! My brain is scarred now! I have seen things in the last 15 minutes that will stay with me until the day I die. Which apparently shouldn’t be too long from now since you’re here.” He started to breathe heavily because he was beyond frustrated with all the ridiculous werewolf shit that was currently encompassing his life.

“My apologies for the scarring, but uh, how is it _my_ fault exactly?” Jess crossed her legs and arms at the same time, arming herself the argument that was bound to happen now.

“Did you mark me in the woods?”

Jess just laughed and shook her head. “Why would you think that?”

Stiles shrugged. “The pack thinks I smell like you.”

She leaned forward to sniff around his neck. Stiles stayed completely still hoping she wouldn’t decide to turn and rip his throat out. “You smell like wolves to me... And teenage boy.” She leaned back and re-crossed her legs. “You smelled like me because we were in close proximity and your friends are werewolves, Dumbass.”

“Thanks for the insight. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t more to the story. You’re pretty good at the whole mysterious-outsider-with-evil-intentions bit.” Jess looked offended so Stiles put his hands up as a gesture of truce, “Just saying...”

“I don’t look evil.” Stiles looked Jess up and down, taking in her entire outfit: tight skinny jeans, black Dr Martens, gray shirt, black leather jacket, and her hair was braided to the side. She looked down at her clothes and then back at Stiles before saying, “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Stiles put his hands up in mock surrender.

“You were thinking, and that’s just as bad.” She reached across Stiles and opened up a website Stiles had never seen before. The background looked like aged leather and had stamped runic symbols on it in an attempt to seem mythical. Stiles raised his eyebrows and looked at Jess as she leaned sideways on the desk next to him. “I know how fucking stupid this site looks ok, but it’s actually not that bad. Check it out when you can.”

“Why would I do that?” Stiles quipped.

“Cause of the trust we’ve so delicately built together?” Stiles gave his best “you’ve got to be shitting me right now” expression, resulting in a small smile from Jess. “Fine. Then out of pure and unadulterated curiosity.” She winked and stood up and started to leave when Scott came in quickly. Jess took a step back and just stared blankly at Scott before her facial expression melted back into her constant look of bemusement.

“I smelled her in the hallway and came as fast as I could.” Scott had his eyebrows furrowed and his gaze as tense as his voice. Without taking his eyes off Jess he asked, “Why didn’t you call Derek like you’re supposed to?”

“Since when are you all about following Derek’s rules?” Stiles was trying to avoid answering, because if he was being honest, he didn’t want Derek to capture and torture Jess for information. She might have been rogue, but Stiles didn’t think she was dangerous.

At least she wouldn’t be to him.

“Since a crazed omega shows up in the woods and threatens your life, Stiles. Why didn’t you call anyone?”

Stiles shrugged, “I forgot.”

“Liar,” Jess interjected quickly. Stiles looked quickly at her, head cocked slightly with a smile that was fighting to be more amused than bemused. “There seems to be some trouble in paradise...” She looked easily between the two teenagers, one hurt and the other ashamed. “So I’m gonna go.”

She slid past Scott easily now that his whole focus was set on Stiles and Stiles could just tell all he was thinking about was how best friends don’t lie to each other.

Stiles couldn’t look at Scott right now, so Stiles watched Jess leave, trying to figure out how some rogue omega would be able to figure all this out, and why would they be trying to help him figure things out while simultaneously ruining his life?

When she got to the doorframe she turned back to them. She had one hand gripping the wall while saying, “Oh, and make sure you check out the hot new additions to the Beacon Hills student body.” She got a wicked smile and swung out the door by the hand she had on the doorframe.

“Well someone sure likes the last word.” Stiles tried to lighten the mood, but he could tell it wasn’t going to work. There weren’t any clever quips or references to save him right now and Stiles was pretty sure he’d much rather be in a fight with the Alpha Pack than have to deal with an angry best friend.

Scott’s face had about twenty different emotions displayed and every single one made Stiles feel even worse about everything that was happening. His face had fallen like the puppy he really was, and he looked so sad, no, not sad, disappointed. 

“Dude, you can’t look at me with that face,” Stiles said after the sheer magnitude of sad puppy had worn him down.

“I’m not making a face,” he replied sadly with a tinge of anger.

Stiles rolled his eyes, “You’re making your sad puppy dog face that makes everyone give you whatever you want because you look so innocent and kind and it’s the best at giving guilt trips man.”

“Good.”

“What did I do!”

“You didn’t call Derek while the crazy omega decided to pay you a visit, that’s what! God Stiles, what if I hadn’t gotten here?”

“She would have left no problem! In case you didn’t notice, she was standing to leave when you arrived.”

“Well, it’s not just this time, okay! You’ve been acting strange for months now!” Scott’s sad puppy face and transformed into his ‘angry bff’ face which was never fun because it always resulted in the two of them not speaking for a while. “Not calling Derek today, walking alone in the woods the other night, skipping classes? What’s going on with you man?” 

Stiles stayed quiet because he didn’t know how to explain his feelings. He knew Scott would do his best to understand and be a great friend because that’s the kind of guy he was, but how was Stiles supposed to explain the insomnia and lack of appetite and overall lack of anything to him? It would just be too much.

Scott sighed and softly said, “You remember after we beat Gerard and I was helping you with lacrosse?”

Stiles smirked, “And I said ‘no werewolf powers’ but you used them anyway?”

Scott got his goofy grin for a second before it became sad from reminiscing. “You said that I still had you and that I’d always have you...” They looked each other in the eyes. “It’s the same for you. You’ll always have me too, no matter what.” Stiles looked at his lap and nodded, not knowing what to say besides, “yeah”.

When he looked back up, Scott was gone, leaving Stiles alone and feeling like the worst best friend to exist ever. He rubbed the palms of his hands in his buzzcut in frustration before looking back at the monitor. He had about 20 minutes left in the computer lab, so he tried to read as quickly as possible.

He read through various different websites, each giving small tidbits of information on large subjects. The most useful website ended up being the one Jess had given him, and he was a lot less surprised than he thought he should have been.

When the bell finally rang, Stiles erased the search history and logged out before heading to the cafeteria to meet the rest of the pack for lunch. He wasn’t sure if Scott would have told them or if Scott was just going to avoid Stiles for a while, but Stiles didn’t plan on bringing anything up if he didn’t have to.

He grabbed chicken nuggets and a bottle of water before walking to the table they normally occupied. Boyd and Erica were already seated across from each other, whispering excitedly.  
Stiles put his tray down and sat next to Erica. “So what’s going on with you guys?”

Boyd looked up but Erica answered, “Not much. What about you?”

He shrugged, “Just trying to research stuff in the computer lab.”

“Find anything interesting?”

“Nah, not really.” Stiles took a large bite of chicken, which is when Erica decided to attack. She turned her head quickly to face him, blonde ringlets flying behind her.

“So why are you going against orders? Or are you just trying to avoid Derek?” Her eyes had a wicked glint to them, like the night of the rave when she had to seduce Jackson.

Stiles attempted to chew his chicken without choking while also trying to come up with a decent reason when Isaac stopped behind him and Boyd and Erica snapped their heads to look at the cafeteria doors.

Stiles looked up in time to see a tan girl with long dark hair push the door open, flanked by identical twins with innocent faces but mischievous eyes. Stiles couldn’t stop staring and eventually his chicken just fell out of his mouth, because how could they all be so attractive _fuck_.

 _Does being a werewolf automatically take the awkward out of you because there are never any unattractive ones._ Stiles had decided it was a question he should ask Derek later because saying anything right now would have been too noticeable since the entirety of the cafeteria had silenced when the doors flew open.

They walked toward the line of food, each with a smug smile across their lips, definitely embracing all the attention they were getting. Stiles turned his head as they walked past, letting his eyes wander down the entirety of all of their bodies and he could feel his heart beat faster.

Slowly the sound returned to the cafeteria and Stiles didn’t need superhearing to know everyone was talking about the new kids. “They sure know how to make an entrance. Reminds me of a certain blonde with an apple craving.” Stiles turned back to the table looking quickly at Erica who rolled her eyes.

Isaac brought his tray down roughly, breathing hard. “They’re-”

“Yeah, really good looking” Stiles interrupted looking at Isaac pointedly. Isaac’s eyes were flashing and Stiles looked at him with glare that screamed “calm the fuck down”.

Erica caught on to Stiles’ plan quickly and leaned over her tray to see Isaac past Stiles’ head. “Wanna divide and conquer the twins?” adding a slick wink and a wicked grin. Stiles didn’t know how Erica didn’t get everything she ever wanted when she did things like that, but then he remembered that Erica _did_ usually get everything she wanted because of the things she did.

Boyd snorted and Erica quickly threw a wink at him. Isaac’s response was just to slow his breathing and smile softly back at Erica. It was only thirty seconds more before he got a wicked gleam and responded, “Who says we’d have to divide?”

Erica and Isaac laughed maliciously while Stiles and Boyd exchanged skeptical glances. Stiles wasn’t sure what was happening between the pack right now, but he was sure that he was extremely uncomfortable. He was stuck between two hot blondes, and not in the way he desired. So he picked up his tray and went to put it away, keeping the basket of chicken and fries for when he got to the library.

He walked into the hallway to see Scott running off, but hunched over like he was carrying something heavy. Stiles took a bite of chicken, contemplating his next move, before deciding to just follow him around the corner.

He strolled down the hall, finishing the chicken before rounding the corner. Through the window of the door he could see Derek’s camaro start to drive away from the parking lot. Stiles threw the chicken away and slammed the doors open, rounding on Scott who had looked surprised to see him.

“Wha- why aren’t you at lunch?” Scott stuttered.

“Cause Erica and Isaac were thinking of twincesting and I didn’t really want to have to imagine that while eating.” He looked suspiciously at Scott and then to the spot where the Camaro drove off. “What was Derek doing here?”

“Oh, uh.” Scott was using on hand to mess with his hair quickly while the other started gesticulating wildly. “He just stopped by. To say. Hi. And to, you know, make sure we were all studying hard and stuff.” He had a tight smile and he started to look anywhere but at Stiles. “I’m starved. How bout we get some food-”

“Why did Derek really come here?”

“Did they have burgers today? Or was it pizza?”

“Scott!” Stiles wasn’t usually quick to get riled up with Scott but he had a feeling Scott had done something stupid. Something really stupid.

“He came to pick up the omega.” He dropped his hands and looked down at the floor.

“And how did he know about her being here?”

“Well you were being a dumbass!”

Stiles threw his arms up while complaining, “So you called _Derek_?”

Scott looked a little ashamed and answered quietly, “He’s just gonna talk to her. See if she says the same stuff she told your or if she changes her story. Maybe she’ll even tell him more about what she knows!” Scott had looked hopeful and Stiles didn’t want to make their fight any worse.

“I’m going over there.” He decided quickly and without thinking about it at all. He started walking down the steps and toward his Jeep that was currently parked on the other side of the lot when he heard Scott say, “No you’re not.”

Stiles turned to look at him. “Why the hell not? And if you pull the ‘only human’ card-”

“We have a test in Harris’ class next period.” Stiles opened and closed his mouth a few times before Scott pulled him towards the door by his t-shirt, a smug smile on his face. “You need me to remind you of the ‘zeroth law of thermodynamics’ again?”

Stiles groaned loudly. “Harris is gonna be the death of us all one day. I can feel it.”  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By the time Harris' class was over, Stiles had sent thousands of mental thank yous to Scott along with millions of compliments about his superior physics knowledge.

When the bell rang and they headed to the lockers, Stiles put his homework in his backpack and started turning towards the front doors, but his path was blocked by Scott, who had a look of severe determination on his face.

“I’m coming with you.” Scott’s face stayed severe with every word. He'd obviously decided after he finished his test that he should join Stiles, but Stiles didn't want Scott there. He'd already done enough for the situation.

“No, you’re not.” Stiles responded flatly. “You’ve missed way too many classes. You miss anymore and you’re not gonna be able to play lacrosse this season and you’ll probably get held back. Just come over after school with the rest of the pack. I’ll be fine, I promise.” He added it to the end because he could tell Scott didn’t agree with this plan at all.

Scott wanted to argue further but the second bell rang so he just nodded and turned back towards his next class, shoulders slightly fallen.

Stiles ran out to the parking lot and slid into the seat of his Jeep, quickly started the engine and headed towards Derek’s house.

He got there faster than usual, probably because the entire drive he just kept hoping he got there before Derek ripped Jess’ throat out. He ran into the house, quickly scanning the first floor but not finding anyone. He stood in the burnt version of what was probably the kitchen before he heard something scrape below him.

He ran down the stairs to the basement and was surprised to find that all the steps were fixed and solid, and there was a wooden handrail added and sanded smoothly. Stiles got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around in awe. _So apparently he has been fixing the house. Of course not anywhere people see, but hey, it’s a start right? Foundations and all that._

The floors were polished cement with a few rugs that had been pushed out of the way. The walls were cement bricks and even though the room was bare, Stiles could easily imagine it as the pack den. He was looking around in shock for a minute before he looked to the middle of the room and saw another good thing about the new room.

Easy cleanup.

Peter was leaning against the wall in a corner with his arms across his chest while Derek stood in the middle of the room, white tanktop dirtied with a mix of earth and dried blood. And slouching in a chair in front of Derek, legs tied together with rope in front and arms tied together behind, was Jess.

Her braid was undone and clumps of hair stuck together with blood in most places, mud in a few that had leaves near them. She looked up heavily at him as he stepped to the floor. Her face had the remnants of quickly healed wounds, but she showed no emotion whatsoever. As if, being beaten for information weren’t even on the same level of a bad dream.

“What the fuck, Derek?” was all Stiles was able to express after what seemed like an eternity of staring.

Derek’s face was tense and his lips pursed. “She threatened the pack.” He said it in a way that implied there was no other factors that needed to be taken into account.

“You stole her from a high school!” _How has the whole pack not been destroyed already? Derek is literally the worst with planning anything._

Derek’s brow furrowed, “She’s not actually a student.” As if that had suddenly made everything okay.

“Well I am actually, so...” Jess’ voice was rough and judging by the shock that flitted across Derek’s face, it was the first time she’d spoken since being taken. That explained all the blood.

Peter stood up straight and responded before Derek, “What?”

“Yeah. Enrolled yesterday. Started today.” She continued to keep her face blank, not giving anything important away.

Peter took a step towards them, “Well, she’s still a murderer.”

Her face finally slipped into incredulousness, “It’s nice to meet you Pot, my name’s Kettle.” Had Stiles not spent so much time studying Peter’s demeanor for his own safety, he wouldn’t have noticed the slim smirk that resided for just a moment before Peter slid back to his corner.

Peter was planning something, he was always planning something. But now Stiles had proof, if you could call a twitch proof which at this moment, he was.

Her face was blank again when Stiles looked away from Peter. Derek let his shoulders tense again before saying, “She still threatened you.”

Stiles shrugged. “You threaten me all the time. It seems to be a response I illicit.” He looked at Jess’ wrists that seemed to be stained red from rope burn. “So can we untie her now?”

“No,” Derek responded quickly. “She’s still dangerous and she can still give us information on the Alphas.” Derek set his jaw and tried to look as menacing as possible. Stiles had been on the receiving end of that glare and knew that it was nearly impossible to keep quiet with those eyes boring into your soul.

Assuming Jess had a soul, which at this point it seemed like she didn’t because nearly two minutes of glaring and angry whispers had gone by and her face was still unfazed.

Eventually Derek’s jaw clicked together and he spoke slowly, through clenched teeth, “What do you know about the Alphas?” He started to breath heavily eyes twitching between red and his unnatural green cyclone of colors.

Jess didn’t do anything but breathe and blink, the exact same thing she had been doing since Derek had attempted to interrogate her.

Stiles couldn’t take it anymore, the staring contest was getting completely out of hand. “Jess,” he started but stopped quickly. Her eyes locked on to his immediately as if she had just been waiting for him to ask her anything. As if there were no one else she would want to talk to but him. “What do you know about the Alphas?”

“Which ones?” Her voice was a little hoarse, but Stiles was just glad she was starting to participate.

“How about the ones threatening to kill my pack?” Derek responded angrily, but Jess kept her eyes on Stiles.

“What do you know about the Alpha Pack that’s here?”

Jess tightened her eyes. “Enough.”

Stiles quickly understood why she was being difficult: he wasn’t playing along. He was just asking what Derek wanted to know. _Fine. I’ll bite._

“I saw the newest editions today at lunch, it’s a shame you’d just missed them.” A smile played on the corner of her lips while Derek stood slightly behind him in a passively protective manner. “You never mentioned twins.” Stiles let a smile cross his mouth, knowing he had to sell himself to get the information they needed. Knowledge _is_ power.

“I thought I’d let you find out on your own. I mean, aren’t surprise twins the best kind of twins?” Her smile had become wicked and he could feel Derek tense behind him while Peter shuffled in the shadows. Something was happening, but Stiles couldn’t figure out what.

“It was definitely a surprise. I mean, how do they both become Alphas anyway? Did they both kill the same Alpha? Kill different ones? The decide to take the term “blood brothers” to a whole new level?” Stiles wanted to move around Jess like in their first encounter, but he realized they were on a different playing field now. He grabbed a chair that was under the stairs and pulled it in front of Jess, sat backwards and smiled slightly.

Jess had an eyebrow propped up and her smile was bemused. Had Stiles not seen her face blank earlier he would have assumed that was her natural face.

“Oh these twins are interesting, Little Red. _Very_ interesting.” Stiles raised his eyebrows in response before she continued. “Ethan and Aiden. One’s more vicious than the other, but good luck finding out which. You see, they both like to play with their food, adrenaline makes the meat tougher, but only one of them finishes it off.”

The more Stiles’ brow furrowed, the more satisfaction played on Jess’ smirk.

“What are you saying?”

“She’s saying only one twin killed an Alpha,” Peter interjected. Jess snapped her head towards the corner and her grin quickly turned to a look of contempt before going blank again.

Stiles kept his eyes on hers. “But how are they both Alphas then?”

“They’re genetically identical. The power didn’t know which wolf killed the Alpha so it went to both of them.”

“So are they weaker than the others? Because their power was split?” Derek asked before Stiles could.

Jess just shrugged. “They’re never apart so I couldn’t tell, but they’re nearly impossible to beat when they fight together.”

Derek nodded solemnly as if that had made complete sense, but Stiles was still focused on what Jess had said early. “What did you mean ‘the power didn’t know’?”

“You’ve looked so far into the what but never into the how?” Jess tilted her head slightly.

“The how? You need to be bitten-” Stiles started but Peter interrupted.

“Stiles, you’re the smart one here. You really think the first werewolf came about by getting bit by a rabid wolf?”

Stiles looked back to Peter and threw his hands in the air, “I don’t know! Maybe! Rabies used to be a serious problem!”

Peter just rolled his eyes and Stiles turned back to Jess whose face had become blank again. “So, what’s the ‘how’?”

Jess stared into Stiles’ eyes for a moment that felt too long, but he wasn’t going to look away. She was judging him, and he needed to pass if he wanted the information.

“Witches,” she finally stated when she had stared long enough.

“Witches? Like hocus-pocus-Hermione-Granger kinda witches?” Stiles asked incredulously.

She just shrugged. “It’s just a story, one of many, but it’s my favorite.”

“So what happened? Did the witches get angry at wolves for eating sheep or something?”

She smiled slightly. “Not exactly...” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Supposedly there was a large coven of witches who lived near the forest. One day they went out looking for something, some versions say herbs while others say trouble, either way they went into the woods. While they were walking they came across a small house that was on their land.

So the witches knocked on the door and told the family who was living there that they needed to leave because they were trespassing. Of course the family didn’t want to leave, they had a cabin and the safety of the woods, so they told the witches they were going to stay. The witches warned them that a curse would fall on them if they didn’t move by the next full moon, but the trespassers just laughed.

Sure enough, when the next full moon came, a curse fell upon the family. They became the animals of the woods they never wanted to leave. They were forced to become wolves for the entirety of the full moon’s reign, forced to feel the pain and hunger of a wolf. So the next day they moved out, hoping it would be enough to break the curse, but it wasn’t. They continued to live in the woods, hunting every full moon until it became as natural as breathing.”

“So all this shit started because some family was trespassing?”

Jess nodded while shrugging. “Basically... Witches, man.”

“Well then how was an Alpha created if they were all equally cursed?” Derek asked. His brow was furrowed and he was staring intently down at Jess.

“‘The first to kill will be marked for all to see, with eyes as red as the blood let free.’ The mother killed a man who was hunting in the woods. Maybe to protect her family or maybe because she was hungry, the legend doesn’t say, but it’s why the Alpha title is typically passed through the women when possible.”

The room was quiet while everyone just thought about Jess’ story. Stiles thought about how it could be complete bullshit that something as trivial as tresspassing started the whole shit storm he was currently living in, but he had no evidence saying it wasn’t possible.

“How do you know all this?” Stiles could hear the pain muffled in Derek’s words, and it hit him that Derek’s family was probably murdered before the legends were passed down. Stiles kept his eyes on Jess’ face, trying not to give anything away.

Jess looked up heavily, “The trees tell stories that only the lost can hear.”

Derek huffed and told Peter to keep an eye on her before going upstairs. Stiles stood up and looked between Jess and Peter before going up to make sure Derek was alright. As he reached the top of the stairs he heard Jess snarl a “fuck off” to Peter, causing him to smile just a little.

Derek was hunched over one of the few cabinets that wasn’t demolished, and Stiles walked up to him tentatively.

“I don’t trust her,” Derek stated before Stiles had even stood next to him.

Stiles furrowed his brow a little. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Jess yet, but so far she hadn’t shown any mal-intent, it was possible that she just decided to visit at a bad time... “I can research her story to see if it’s in any way accurate but-”

“The story’s true. My mother used to tell it to us before bed.” Derek’s face was completely free of emotion, but his voice sounded strained, as if he didn’t really want to tell Stiles that information, but also knew he had to.

“So then the story isn’t why you distrust her?”

“Oh, no, it is.” Stiles made a noise out of annoyance, causing Derek to stand up a little straighter. “The story about the wolves creation is special. It’s only ever passed down through wolf-born families, and Jess is definitely not a born-wolf.”

Stiles looked at Derek’s face before looking at the door to the basement. “Well maybe she is-”

Derek’s scoff interrupted Stiles. “She is the epitome of ‘Lone Wolf’. Believe me, she was bitten. Which is why her knowing the story is wrong. She shouldn’t.” Derek sighed heavily before standing up straight and rolling his shoulders. To Stiles, it looked as though he was trying to get back into the “Big Bad Alpha” mindset, a thought that he would file away to smile at later.

“Untie her and take her home, Stiles. We’re done for now.”

Stiles just nodded and started to walk back towards the basement, but for some reason he wanted the conversation to end differently. Lighter. “The basement looks good, by the way.” Derek just nodded once. “What do you plan on doing next?”

The side of Derek’s mouth flicked for just a second before he shrugged, “I’m thinking the kitchen may be my next project.”

Stiles couldn’t hold back the groan that formed as a response. “Yes good, kitchen. Definitely get a kitchen.”

Derek just rolled his eyes. “Get rid of the girl in my basement, Stiles. And go back to class.”

Stiles did a quirky, closed mouth smile before saluting and responding with a lax, “Yes, sir. Of course, sir,” while heading back down to get Jess.

Peter was sitting in the chair Stiles had been sitting in and when Jess saw Stiles coming down the stairs she softly said, “Oh thank God.”

Stiles untied her and offered her a ride which she declined saying, “I’ve been forced to sit in that chair for more than an hour. Fresh air and a walk will be a wet dream for me, okay. Go do research or something. I’ll be fine.”

Stiles got back to school in time for Lacrosse practice, meaning he could avoid the pack for the rest of the day, until they got all the information from Derek first hand.

After everything he’d seen and heard, Stiles really just wanted to fill himself with junk food and pass out in a food coma until the Alphas just left town.

Instead, he made pasta and finished homework and played videogames before passing out on his bed for the first time in days.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is still following what I want/ed to happen in season 3 (even though it's mostly over now...). It's definitely off-canon now that we've come so far in season 3, but I have plans on how to keep it going and interested, I promise! And sorry about this one coming so late! I was travelling and dealing with family stuff but alas, it is here! Hopefully part 3 will be updated much sooner!  
> (Title is from the poem "Surrounded By Wolves" by Windsor Guadalupe Jr.)  
> [beta-d by the continuously patient Rachael]


End file.
